The bonding of sawn semiconductor chips onto substrates such as leadframes, DCB substrates or flanges is carried out using a bonding tool which typically sucks up the semiconductor chip using a pick-and-place process, takes it off the sawing film, places it at the intended position on the substrate, and pushes it on. The mechanical and possibly electrical connection between the semiconductor chip and the substrate is produced by adhesive bonding, sintering or soldering. By way of example, one such bonding tool is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,423.
One problem in this case is that the surface of the substrate is not ideally flat, by virtue of its production, but has a curvature whose intensity and direction are not, however, always reproducibly the same. This curvature of the substrate leads to non-uniform contact between the semiconductor chip and substrate, and to the semiconductor chip not being pressed on correctly in places, during the bonding process. This results, for example, in a soldered joint between the chip rear face and the substrate being incomplete and inclined, in particular adjacent to the outer edges of the semiconductor chip. A uniform, robust connection between the chip rear face and the substrate is of major importance for the reliability of a component.